Back on Track
by TitansRule
Summary: Don helps Jess face her fears so they can finally tell their friends about their engagement. Story #75 in my 'Kindred Spirits' series; ordered list on my profile.


**Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: NY, but I do own Officer Isobel Wilson.  
****Series: 'Kindred Spirits'.  
****Spoilers: None**

**Note: This is set after 'Lat 40 Degrees/Long 73 Degrees' (in my series) but before 'Happy Birthday'. My version of **_**Dead Reckoning**_** will come after Jess is back at work, which happens in 'Happy Birthday'.**

* * *

Back on Track

"You know Valentine's Day is _next_ weekend, don't you?" Jess asked with a smile.

Don chuckled. "I know, sweetheart. Trust me, that's not why we're going out."

"Okay, then what's the reason?" Jess prompted.

"Well, we still haven't told the CSIs that we're getting married." Don reminded her.

Jess nodded quietly. "I know. But the only way to tell everyone in person is to go to the lab and I don't know if I can …"

Don reached across and squeezed her hand. "I know. We're not going to the lab. We're going to the range."

"The …" Jess took a deep breath. "Thanks for the head's up."

"You don't have to shoot, Jess." Don assured her. "You don't even have to touch a gun. We're going to one near my parents' place so we don't run into anyone from the precinct. And we can drop in and tell them on the way home." He pulled up outside and turned to face her. "It's up to you what happens next. I'm right beside you."

Jess let out a heavy breath. "Okay. I can do this." She was, if nothing, stubborn and she wasn't going to let herself leave this place without firing at least one shot.

The main lobby was quiet, so they could hear the faint sounds of gunfire and she stepped back involuntarily, feeling him wrap an arm around her waist tightly.

Don guided her up to the counter and rang a bell. "Yo, Freddie! You here?"

"Donny!" A large red-faced man appeared out of a back room. "Finally decided to drag your ass back, huh?" He clapped Don on the back. "Your old man's here nearly every week; can't say enough about you. And this must be the girlfriend he keeps tellin' me about."

"Must be." Don grinned. "Jess, this is Freddie Talbot; he owns this place. Freddie, Jessica Angell."

"Nice to meet you." Freddie shook her hand. "She looks pale; you sure bringing her here was a good idea, Donnie?"

Don chuckled and even Jess couldn't suppress a smirk. "Let me tell you, Freddie; my girl's a crack shot." He lowered his voice. "Anyone using the training range?"

"No, but if you're right, she don't need it." Freddie looked curious.

"She doesn't." Don squeezed her shoulder. "You wanna show him your battle wounds, hun?"

"I'd rather not." Jess rolled her eyes. "I was shot in November; still having a little trouble with guns."

"I wanna help her back on the horse without being surrounded by cowboys." Don explained.

"Sure." Freddie removed a key hanging from a hook behind the counter and led them over to one of the doors. "Take your time."

"Thanks, Freddie; I owe you one."

"Just make sure you invite me to the wedding." Freddie smirked.

"You're ahead of me." Don grinned. "Haven't even told Mom and Dad I asked her yet."

Jess's smirk evolved into giggles as Freddie's was wiped into a stunned expression.

"You're not kidding." He whispered. "I gotta go tell Mary."

"Just don't let her call Ma yet." Don called after him, shutting the door.

"Mary's his wife?" Jess guessed, observing the small room they were standing in.

"Yep." Don handed her a pair of ear-defenders. "Ready?"

Jess nodded jerkily. "I think so."

"Would it help if I stuck a photo of the guy's face on the target?" Don asked.

Jess laughed despite herself. "Thanks, but no. I'd rather just shoot a target for now."

"Alright." Don unzipped the bag he'd brought with them. "Do you want to use mine or yours?"

"Mine." Jess decided firmly.

"Alright." Don pulled her duty weapon out and presented it to her.

Jess took it, her hands still shaking. "Thanks."

"Here." Standing behind her, Don covered her hands with his own, steadying her aim. "I'm right here." He murmured, kissing her cheek. "I'm not moving until you give me the nod. Ready?"

Jess nodded and they aimed, before pulling the trigger once, twice, three times. All three bullets hit their mark.

She nodded and he released his grip, moving her hands to her shoulders. Adjusting her grip slightly, she fired three more times. Again, all three hit their mark.

"Okay." Jess whispered.

Don tightened his grip for a split-second and then released her.

Jess took a deep breath; the last three shots were smooth, but missed the mark.

Before Don could say anything, there was a squeal from outside and she could almost hear him wince. "That'll be Mary. I'll go head her off." He kissed her forehead. "I'm proud of you, sweetheart."

_You might be, but I'm not. _Jess sighed. _I should not need him to hold my hand in order to make a shot._

The door swung shut behind him and she was left alone with her thoughts, a target and a gun.

_And a bag_. A voice in her head reminded her. _You know Don brought extra ammo._

Her trepidation and fear had been replaced by irritation and she rooted through the rucksack, finding the extra bullets. She reloaded her weapon and took her place again, taking aim.

_One … two … three … four … five … six … seven … eight … nine …_

Jess lowered her gun, smirking triumphantly at the perfect grouping in the centre of the target. She heard the door open and turned to see Don grinning at her, standing next to Freddie and a woman she assumed was his wife, both of whom were gaping at the target. "I'm back." She stated.

"That's good work, Detective." Don grinned.

Freddie chuckled. "You were right, Donnie; she's a crack shot."

* * *

"Mom!" Don called, kicking the front door closed. "Dad?"

"There's no need to shout." Katherine chided, emerging from the kitchen to hug her son, before embracing Jess as well. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Why do I need an ulterior motive to visit my parents?" Don asked. "Dad around?"

"Living room." Katherine answered, following them into the aforementioned room.

Donald was reading a book, chatting with Samantha, who was attempting – and failing – to braid her hair.

"Yeah, it's been difficult, but – hey guys – but I've done it and I'm gonna keep doing it."

"Your hair?" Don guessed. "I'd just stop, Sammie; something's not working."

"I don't think she was talking about that." Jess rolled her eyes, perching behind her. "Hold still."

Sam let her hands drop. "Thanks, Jess."

"So what were you talking about?" Don asked, since his mother was almost bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"I've been sober for six months." Sam grinned.

"Congratulations." Jess tied the end of the braid off and gave her a hug.

"Thank you." Sam stood up, accepting Don's hug as well.

"I am so proud of you." He murmured, kissing her head.

"So how come you two are here?" Sam asked curiously.

"Again, why do I need a reason?" Don rolled his eyes. "It's not that rare for me to visit, is it?"

"Yes." His father, mother and sister answered in unison.

"Jess?" Sam prompted. "What provoked my dear brother to visit us mere mortals?"

Jess laughed. "I'm with him; why do we need a reason." As she spoke, she brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

Almost immediately, Samantha squealed loudly, seizing her hand. "Oh my God! Finally!"

Seeing his father's bemused expression and his mother's speculative one, Don cleared his throat. "I … er … I asked Jess to marry me a few weeks ago."

Katherine squealed even louder than Sam, if that were possible. "I knew it! I knew this was going to happen! Tell me you talked to her parents."

"You kidding? Four older brothers and a Detective Sergeant for a father?" Don winced. "I wasn't taking any chances."

* * *

"You ready?"

It had taken them twenty minutes and a promise that they'd be there for dinner tomorrow night to get out of Don's parents' house and now they were sitting in the car outside the precinct.

Jess nodded. "Oh yeah."

"Good." Don leaned across and kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you too." Jess opened the door and got out the car, noticing as she did that there were, for once, no officers or detectives loitering outside on smoke or lunch breaks. "Where is everyone? Did you call ahead?"

"No." Don frowned. "You think something happened?"

"I hope not." Jess sighed. "Although, knowing our luck …"

"Wait here." Don told her, jogging up the steps and ducking into the lobby. After several minutes that seemed to drag into hours, his head reappeared. "Okay."

Jess chuckled quietly to herself at their paranoia and followed him up to the front door, emerging into the familiar lobby.

This, too, was empty.

"Where …?" Jess began.

"In there." Don murmured, indicating the squadroom. "Captain's announcing Cooper's retirement."

They slipped through the door unnoticed, just in time to see their colleagues leading a round of applause for the dedicated detective.

"Who'll be replacing Cooper, sir?" Martinez asked over the noise.

"Well, Nick isn't leaving yet." O'Hara answered. "But when he does …" He trailed off, catching sight of Don and Jess. "When he does, Detective Angell will step up, assuming she's been cleared for duty again."

"I can meet you halfway and say desk duty within a week as long as my psychiatrist goes for it." Jess offered. "But my physician still thinks I'm about to fall apart."

Every head in the room turned to face them and there was a moment of stunned silence.

Don's arm fell from her waist as Maka came forwards and hugged Jess tightly, opening the floodgate for everyone else to welcome her back.

When her tense posture relaxed, Don left her side to approach the captain, keeping one eye on Jess as he did, seeing that O'Hara was standing next to a woman he recognised as the department shrink. "Cathy! Long time."

"In my line of work, that's a good thing, Detective Flack." She pointed out with a smile. "I'm surprised to see Jess here."

"We went shooting this morning." Don stated proudly. "Or, rather, she went shooting and I watched."

"She didn't need your help?" Cathy asked curiously.

"On the first six shots." Don admitted. "And the next three were off the mark. But then I left the room, she reloaded and it was a perfect grouping, dead-centre."

"You gossiping behind my back?" Jess asked from behind him.

"Angell." O'Hara greeted, shaking her hand. He paused. "Apparently, you two are ready to confirm the rumours."

"Come on, captain; I wouldn't want to step on Nick's toes …" Jess began.

"Don't be ridiculous, Jess." Cooper interrupted with a grin. "If you two have news, I insist that you share it."

Jess glanced up at Don, who was also grinning, as the precinct fell silent again. "Okay."

"Go on then." Maka prompted.

"Well, a few weeks ago," Don's grin widened, "a certain newly-promoted homicide detective agreed to marry me."

A second round of applause followed that announcement, accompanied by a few whistles, slaps on the back for Don and squeals from the handful of other female detectives who descended on Jess as one, demanding to see the ring on her finger.

"Does the lab know yet?" O'Hara asked over the noise.

"Not yet; we were headed there next." Don answered. "But I think Jess wants to deliver that other piece of news first."

The two men exchanged a conspirational smile, both having kept quiet about who would replace Jess and let the uniforms draw their own – incorrect – conclusions.

Finally, after promising to meet the girls at Sullivan's for drinks before the week ended to elaborate, Jess extracted herself from the crowd and headed to the break-room where she knew the uniformed officers would be, waiting for the signal to fly.

Isobel saw her first. "Detective Angell!"

The general chatter dimmed and Jess realised that she'd never known rooms to quieten so quickly when she entered before. She wondered if that would stay true for crime scenes, and then dismissed it because, really, that would make her job too easy. "Hello, everyone. Just thought I'd let you know that Detective Cooper's retiring, which means I'm moving up the ladder, which means that whoever's next on the promotion board is getting a bump up to homicide detective."

One of the male officers stood up, as his fellows congratulated him, and Jess didn't argue for a few seconds, leaning against the door frame.

She knew it was cruel, but then again, he'd been pretty cruel to Isobel in the past and, as far as she was concerned, it was fair payback.

"What's your name again, kid?" Jess asked finally.

"Er, Hawthorne?"

"Officer Hawthorne …" Jess hesitated. "Did you just get some news I didn't know about?"

"I … just got promoted, didn't I?" He asked.

Jess shook her head. "No, sorry. I don't even know if you're on the promotion board. But that's beside the point." She pulled the Third Grade pin from her pocket, running a thumb across it, knowing that she'd get another one when she went back on full duty. "The person getting promoted is the person at the top of the list."

She crossed the room to where Isobel sat, watching the events unfolding with a dumbfounded look on her face, and pulled her to her feet, pinning the badge to her uniform. "Congratulations, Detective."

* * *

"The look on their faces …" Don trailed off with a chuckle.

Jess sniggered. "Yes, Don, it was hilarious; can we drop it now?" She pulled a face. "I hope she's ready."

"Come on, Jess; you've been raving about this girl for months." Don pointed out, pulling her closer. "She's got what it takes."

"Not that." Jess shook her head. "I remember when I became a detective. Because you have a uniform, you let your wardrobe slide. We'll have to take her shopping."

"Come again?"

"And by 'we', I mean me, Lindsay, Stella and Aiden." Jess smirked. "Relax. We might need you to carry the bags though."

"I'm busy." Don told her immediately.

Jess rolled her eyes. "You don't know when we're going yet."

"In the immortal words of John Barrymore," Don responded, "I have a previous engagement which I shall make as soon as possible." Giving up on finding the people they were looking for, he stopped one of the lab techs as she passed. "Where's Detective Taylor?"

"In the conference room with the others."

"Thank you." Don wrapped an arm around Jess's shoulders and guided her in that direction.

"We seem to be making a habit of walking in on departmental meetings." Jess commented.

"No, I called Mac and told him we had an announcement." Don smirked at her. "He thinks it's to do with your promotion or so-far lack thereof."

Jess returned his smirk as they reached the conference room, not bothering to knock before they pushed the door open.

"Well?" Lindsay asked immediately.

"Montana, calm down." Danny soothed. "Give them time."

"Sorry, that's my fault." Aiden told them in an undertone. "I saw your car when I passed the precinct, guessed why you were there. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it when Mac told us why you were coming."

"Lindsay's got a point though." Stella added.

"You are now looking at Detective Angell, _Second_ Grade." Don grinned. "But it's only desk duty for now."

"Well, it's about ti …" Mac began, but was cut off when Lindsay squealed, grabbing Jess's hand just as Sam had done.

"Yeah, it is!"

"Sorry." Danny tried to pry his wife away. "Lucy's finally sleeping all through the night; Lindsay's feeling the added benefits of a full night's sleep."

"You're never gonna manage, Messer." Aiden rolled her eyes.

"When?" Lindsay demanded, ignoring both of them.

"Three days after my birthday." Jess admitted.

"And you didn't tell us?"

"Tell us what?" Adam asked, looking lost. "What happened three days after your birthday?"

"Don asked me to marry him." Jess answered, with a wide smile. "I'm sorry, Lindsay; I wanted to tell everyone in person."

"And this morning, she fired a gun again, so she can be around you lot." Don added.

"Congratulations!" Stella squeezed between Danny and Lindsay, hugging first Jess and then Don, kissing his cheek. "You look after her, you hear me?"

"Yes, ma'am." Don grinned, shaking Mac's hand.

"I tell ya, first Messer, now you," Aiden hugged him, "what the hell happened when I left?"

"You don't gotta be so dramatic." Danny chided. "Donny was whipped the second he met her."

"Was not!" Don protested.

"You were." Lindsay smirked. "She said jump, you asked how high."

Jess couldn't help stifling a giggle at the look on Don's face. "Was I that bad?" He asked.

The CSIs responded in unison. "You still are."

**

* * *

AN: Okay, this is the last S6 fic in this series for now; I'm going to sort out the others first, since I had a mixed reaction on my poll and the ones no one voted for I had ideas for, so I decided to cut my losses and do all of them. They should, hopefully, be uploaded in order, but there is an ordered list on my profile. Review please!**


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